Jaime!

I got tied up in meetings yesterday afternoon and then I was involved in the salute to Jaime Jarrin, who was honored yesterday for 50 years in the Dodger broadcast booth. It’s hard to even fathom that and he quite obviously belongs in any conversation about the most significant people in the history of the Dodgers. He oozes class, he epitomizes dignity and he deserves all the honors that come his way.

In case somehow you missed it, Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times wrote a very nice feature about Jaime and for those of you Spanish speakers, Hoy had a great piece, too, that you can see here:P30_Dodgers.pdf

Needless to say, it was a very special night for Jaime and if you’ve never had a chance to hear him, do yourself a favor and tune into 930 AM during a game sometime when you’re driving. Even if you don’t understand Spanish, you’ll understand why he’s been so successful at his trade. He’s helped me learn the language and he’s truly a legend in Los Angeles.

Of course, by the time there was a chance to post a lineup last night, the game was over. That’s Mark Buehrle, I guess. But, the Snakes lost again so we’re still four games back. Hard to imagine how far ahead we could be if we were playing up to our potential, but the silver lining is that we remain in the race and there’s plenty of room for improvement.

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154 Comments

I’m first again???

Reposted from last one:
eric/enchanted,
Bravo on those letters to TJ Simmers! Maybe this is the kick-in-the-b*** that’s needed to affect the changes that NEED to be made! Lord knows that nothing worthwhile is happening now…

enchanted – thank you 🙂
.
max_power Thank you for showing that my Ethier at the top of that list pitches per AB 🙂 He’s getting the shaft big time because of the incessant parading of Pierre out in left field. 🙂

I’d like to congratulate Jaime on his anniversary. The Dodgers were very lucky to have caught lightning in a bottle twice.

It’s been said many, many times that we’ve been blessed here in LA with Vin, Jaime, Chick Hearn and Bob Miller with the Kings. I’d also add that the Rams had a great one for a while in Dick Enberg. All here at the same time.

I don’t have the luxury of listening to LA announcers as often as I would like. Unfortunately, I have to listen to gnat announcers, which to be honest, they can be funny, but then again, they are gnat announcers. LOL!!

When he plays the outfield it drags the Dodgers down.
He always leads us off cause JoJo is his clown.
He’s a Rag Arm, little Rag Arm.
Taking Andre’s place, playing Phew’s a disgrace.

I’d bench his tired act and play Andre if I could.
Management won’t hear it, say the ring still makes him good.
He’s a rag arm, such a rag arm.
Though his OBP’s low, and he can’t throw.
Rag Arm, you’re a rag arm.

scott,
I wish that I could say that Charlie not telling the score is my biggest problem with him; it’s not. He is just, plain and simple, a lousy excuse of an announcer. He thinks he’s funny when he’s not. He doesn’t know how to call a game. No, if I could only pick ONE thing that I don’t like about him (and you know that there is a lot more than one for me) is that he doesn’t pay attention to the game in front of him and when he sees a fly ball, he (1) thinks it’s a HR when it’s a short pop-up to left or (2) because he knows he’s scr**** it up before, he calls it nonchalantly and once it does go out, he screams HR like he knew it was when the ball left the bat! He is just so bad that I cringe when the Dodgers go on the road and they’re not playing the NL West or the Angels. At least I’ll know that I’ll be listening to Vinny!

[Fans]
We’re so sorry, Uncle JoJo
We’re so sorry that you came out to L.A.
We’re so sorry, Uncle JoJo
But we want the kids at home
And we wish you’d go away.
We’re so sorry but we’re tired of your BS all the day
We’re so sorry, Uncle JoJo,
But is clear you’re not the man we need
And yes we know about your rings
.
Yeah, yeah,
.
We’re so sorry, Uncle JoJo
But Phew hasn’t done a bloody thing all year
We’re so sorry, Uncle JoJo,
But its time you hit the road
Because our kids we hold so dear
.
Can the old man Torre (Torre)
Can Colletti too
Can the old man Torre (Torre)
Can Colletti too
.
[Ned]
Manager Torre notified me
He had to have a vet or he would start to weep
I had another look at the old scrap heap and what a guy
I found me A. Berroa but Lord knows why
.
[Fans]
Can the old man Torre (Torre)
Can Colletti too
Can the old man Torre (Torre)
Can Colletti too
.
Live a little, play a young gun, hit around (hit around)
Get the team up off the ground
Play the kids be upward bound
Live a little, play a young gun, hit around (hit around)
Get the team up off the ground
Play the kids be upward bound
.
Can the old man Torre (Torre)Can Colletti too
Can the old man Torre (Torre)
Can Colletti too
.
Ooo——ooo—–

typo – should be “done” not don’t – ugh!!
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I wonder if Andre (and the rest of our future young gun dynasty) knows how often his name is mentioned in our songs. He seems to be the only one that is benefiting from our craziness. I mean, we do mention the others, but because of his circumstances, he becomes just as important to some of the songs than the ones we are trying to criticize. In some ways we are killing two birds with one stone. We are giving our management and Pierre the what-for-all for being idiots, and for Andre (and the rest of the young gun dynasty) we our giving our loyalty and continuous support for a job well done from day one.

dnel,
actually, I’m trying to think of a song where I can do just that; kill two birds with one stone. Maybe I’ll just try something uplifting just for our young gun dynasty! I don’t know; it’ll come out eventually… 🙂

Yeah, Steiner stinks big time, but I was trying to keep my complaint to less than 500 words! lol!

BTW, Poor old Rick Monday only sounds good next to Steiner and Jerry Ruess only sounds good next to Monday. When Vinny is not on those road games I practically drive off the freeway on my way home from work listening to those bozos.

I know we’ve been longing for changes to our FO, and I hate to think of the day that Vinny stops announcing, but someone REALLY needs to get a young kid (hmmm, doesn’t that ring a bell?) and let him learn from Vinny, the way Vinny learned from the great Red Barber!

Ryan (LA, CA): Where on the moron sclae (1-10) would Frank McCourt rate if he lets Logan White leave to be the GM somewhere else while Ned Colletti stays on in LA?

SportsNation Jim Callis: (2:02 PM ET ) That would be a disastrous decision. Still can’t believe the Astros hired Ed Wade over White, reportedly because Wade’s experience would allow them to contend quicker.

Ryan (LA, CA): Where on the moron sclae (1-10) would Frank McCourt rate if he lets Logan White leave to be the GM somewhere else while Ned Colletti stays on in LA?

SportsNation Jim Callis: (2:02 PM ET ) That would be a disastrous decision. Still can’t believe the Astros hired Ed Wade over White, reportedly because Wade’s experience would allow them to contend quicker.

There would have to be a new measurement created to even come close to to measuring the stupidity that that type of decision would create. It would be the equivalent of a billion atomic bombs going off at the same time. Thats how high it would rank of the McCourt O’Meter

i agree about all the comments on charley steinner. i think my disdain towards him begun on his first day, during his pregame spot when he said: “it’s a beautiful day here in the bronx.. oh wait.. oops, i mean los angeles..” what an idiot~

some of the readers on tony jackson’s blog were commenting on lazy reporting and how everyone is following the false young players angle because they’re too lazy to check out the numbers.. here are some stats they used to back themselves up:

i’m not sure if someone else posted them.. but i figured i would anyway because it’s interesting and dead on.. it just shows that our love for the young players are not just on our gut feelings, but also backed up by the truth.

also, i’ve been MIA for a couple days, so i’m not sure if anyone else brought this up.. i’m sure someone must have.. but HOW CAN RUSSELL MARTIN NOT BE IN THE TOP 5 AMONG CATCHERS FOR ALL STAR BALLOTING?? we have some pathetic fans.. i know he’ll be a coaches selection as back-up catcher, but the fact that he doesn’t even show up on the list, is just plain sad. he deserves better! in a large market like this, i can’t even begin to understand how smaller market teams can vote their players in, and we can’t even vote in the best player on our team..

“Some of those are minor league deals and I had nothing to do with them,” Colletti protests when I mention his trading track record, and while I find it odd the Dodgers’ GM doesn’t have final approval of all deals, he adds, “The player development people made five or six of those.”

Even a cursory look at the most basic stats – AB/R/H/HR/RBI would give you a clue that its not the kids who aren’t performing. Any in depth analysis would tell you exactly who isn’t performing. But far be it from beat writers to actually work or fact find for their story.

However when its your job, I can’t for the life of me figure out why management doesn’t crunch the numbers and instead comes out with drivel about being patient with Sweeney, and how great AB’s Kent and Phew take. Phew – c’mon, even Torre said he was 4th outfielder once upon a time. And what happened to his defensive replacement in the 7th inning? Has he all of a sudden learned to throw as well as hit?? Unbelieveable™.

Thank you, thank you, thank you sara!! You mean they should be playing because they can actually play the game of baseball damn well and not just because they are cuties – LOL!!! Get over it Joe – Play the kids!!!!!!!!
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p.s. nice to see Andre at the top of that list – Max posted that list earlier – thanks!! 🙂

Yes Sara, that was PR Colletti throwing White & Co. under the wheels to deflect the heat off of himself. PATHETIC™. Just another symptom of the bigger disease – no one will accept responsibility. Kudos to Simers though for asking the question.

We need others like Tony Jackson to do the same though. Didn’t TJ finally come around to thinking that Pierre was worthless? Where’s TJ now, now that JP’s in the line-up night after night stinking it up? It’s no coincidence that we’re 13 games under .500 with JP leading off.

Like you said enchanted – there’s got to be pictures. It’s the only thing that makes any sense what so ever. How can he be riding pine one day and playing everyday the next. And to be honest Andre sitting started before Furcal went on DL. I know that didn’t help but Andre had his share of sitting before. Furcal on DL just made it more noticeable. And whats worse is that when Andruw comes back, there will only be one outfielder that will be able to hit the ball out into the outfield on a regular basis. And to think that those are supposed to be your power positions. If Andruw comes back healthy, then that’s fine, but I seriously don’t see that happening.

With apologies for its length and the fact that it repeats some of the information already provided by other ITD posters – and let’s face it, facts an industrious 9-year-old could chase down – here’s my letter:

T.J.,

How can you buy into Joe Torre’s Kool-Aid? His constant refrain is that the Dodgers youngsters “approach” is poor. His constant practice is to put veterans in key positions in the lineup with Pierre hitting leadoff and Kent third or fourth.

But both his attitude and his practice are both so demonstrably wrong it would be laughable if it wasn’t killing the team and the fans.

Here are a some FACTS that I wish you and the others in the media would bother investigating (apparently you guys haven’t or it would show in both your interviewing of the powers-that-be and your reporting/commentary).

If any of the above group is failing to take sufficient pitches it’s Old Man Kent.

More importantly, though, is that Juan Pierre far more than any other (non-injured) Dodger is failing to get his job done. Juan has only one strength as we all know — or should know — speed. And that strength is only useful if he gets on base. His OBP since he took over the leadoff spot is .298, which is pathetic and is killing the team. His ultimate job is to score runs which he has done just 29 times this year. Since May 6 when Juan became the leadoff hitter, the team is 17-27. Simple question: if Russell Martin had been leading off that whole time, what is a reasonable estimate of the Dodgers record?

Joe Torre talks about the need for consistency from the youth, yet he treats them with extreme inconsistency. Matt Kemp, admittedly the least consistent of the youngsters, has been shuffled all over the lineup and, before Jones went down, in and out of it too. How does Torre expect for Kemp to gain consistency while he Torre is treating him so inconsistently? It flies in the face of common sense.

Instead of taking care of the younger, theoretically less mature players like Loney, Kemp, and Ethier, Torre coddles the allegedly mature players like Kent and Pierre. This is a completely bassackwards approach. It defies both the needs of the lineup and the development of talent.

There is such an obvious change in “approach” that needs to be taken that it is driving many Dodgers fans crazy with frustration: Just use the best hitters and put the very best in the top third of the lineup. Duh.

Something like this EVERY DAY (rest Martin once every ten days or so) would obviously be a MUCH more productive lineup:

Martin
Loney
Kemp
Kent
Ethier
LaRoche/DeWitt
Delwyn Young/Pierre
Shortstop (May I suggest a trade for Jack Wilson?)
Please, T.J., use your voice to help lead the Dodgers out of darkness.

—

P.S. Feel free to use the “James Loney Song” written by myself and my brother Lee Fink. It’s in my Yahoo! Signature.

sara, Max_Power posted the pitches stats at the end of the last thread, but thanks for doing it again for those who won’t be running out to the last of that long thread.

I watched “The Longest Day” over the Memorial Day weekend for the umpteeth time. There is a scene where a couple of Hitler’s generals are frustrated because they want to move their panzers to where the invasion is happening, but they can’t do it because Hitler is sleeping and no one wants to wake him up. I don’t know if that is fact, but it’s funny.

I bring that up because it is one of the two solutions as to why Torre keeps bringing up this “vets know how to work the count” nonsense. Either:
1 – No one is showing him the statistics that all of us can get off the internet, (which is actually possible in light of the Conte/Kiroda story), or
2 – He’s living the “Emperor’s New Clothes” storyline or
3 – He’s living the “That’s My Story And I’m Sticking To It” song (like the husband whose wife found a bra in his glove compartment and now he has to wear one every day), or
4 – Ned hypnotized him, or
5 – Joe is like Zero in “Holes”. There’s nothing going on in that stupid little head.

Yep, that article proves Ned is an even bigger louse than we ever thought. He doesn’t give a crap about anything or anyone but himself and preserving his job. I disliked him immensely before but now I absolutely detest the baffoon.

“We’re still looking to make the pitcher work. We need to do a better job of making the pitcher work,” Joe Torre said. “Go up with a plan. You know he throws a breaking ball, you know he throws a lot of change ups and he cuts the fastball in. You can’t be looking for all of them at the same time, so you have to make a plan. You go up to the plate, and you have an idea of what you want to hit off him. Sometimes if you just look for the ball, that’s not enough. You have to have an idea of which one of his pitches you want to hit.”

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~ as long as kent and pierre recognize the pitch they are being throw, torre doesn’t care they miss it, more often than they crush it.. the main point is that they recognized it.. that’s nonsense.. if they recognize pitches so much better, their numbers should be so much better.. and yet, they’re not. i’m not saying that pitch recognition isn’t important, i’m just saying that it’s not translating into results for kent and pierre. so shutup.

Former Dodgers star says he hopes current young Dodgers get the opportunities that players such as he, Ron Cey, Davey Lopes and Bill Russell were granted in the 1970s.

By Dylan Hernandez
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

9:56 PM PDT, June 24, 2008

Seeing the multitude of young faces in the clubhouse, former first baseman Steve Garvey said he hoped these Dodgers had the opportunities that players such as he, Ron Cey, Davey Lopes and Bill Russell were granted in the 1970s.

“I would love for these guys to be compared to our guys,” Garvey said.

“I would love for them to stay together for a long time, getting to All-Star games, getting to the World Series, winning a championship.”

Garvey said that the shortage of veterans in this Dodgers lineup reminded him of the situation he and other young Dodgers experienced in 1973.

“Very similar,” Garvey said.

But the similarities end there, Garvey said.

“They’re probably bigger, stronger, faster,” Garvey said of the current group of young Dodgers. “We were probably drilled longer in the fundamentals.”

Garvey’s group reached the World Series in 1974.

The former NL MVP warned that it could take time for the current group to find its footing.

“My feeling is that it takes five years to really understand the major leagues,” he said.

Not to bring Mr. JP again, but realize he gets to the ballpark 8-10 hours before a frickin’ game. That obviously is not helping his batting and it certainly isn’t helping his weak-assed arm. What in the hell is he working on for 5-7 hours before the rest of the team shows up – does he run? does he bat? does he throw? What the hell does he do there – obvioulsy he needs to change the routine because THE ROUTINE IS NOT WORKING!!!!!!

Sara – thanks for that – I remember those days pretty well, and they were great. Let’s hope Frank/Ned and Joe see it that way. It would be fantastic to see this young group of talented ball players to become a new dynasty for this Dodger Organization – a dream come true is what it would be 🙂

“We’re walkin’ down that long, lonesome road, Ned
Where we’re bound, we can’t tell
But goodbye’s too good a word, Ned
So we’ll just say fare thee well
We ain’t sayin’ you treated the team unkind
You could have done better but your vision was blind
You just kinda wasted the team’s precious time
But don’t think twice, White’s all right.”

First of all,
FELICIDADES Jaime!!! y ENHORABUENA!! Te mereces todos los acocolades que estas recibiendo. You along with Vin rock!! Tu tambien Pepe!
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JOSH: I am going to test you with all that Spanish you said you learned from Jaime. I love that the Jaime’s ceremony was accompanied by Ecuadorian music. Oh! I forgot to say this earlier. I love the Dodger magazine! I read them from cover to cover. I always buy it at the stadium. I love the article on Sweet Lou in the May issue. He is very sweet. I had that magazine signed by the guys that were at the 60’s celebration. I do have the June issue that features the 70’s but not sure If I should take it. Last month we had copies of the 60’s magazines at each table. Might as well carry it just to be sure.
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Sara: congratulations on being in 1st place in your Fantasy Baseball team! I am also in 1st place in the Inside Dodgers league, right guys? :-). I know, is how you finish that counts. This is the first time I play in two different leagues. The other league I am in is Lady Diamonds from a Ladies baseball forum I frequent called Diamondsforwomen.net.
.

Little story about Lee’s birth as a Dodgers fan. In October of 1981, Lee was 5 years old and a huge fan of “The Greatest American Hero”. I was 18 and a long-time Dodgers fan. The kids in our family had one television to share, and a World Series game was scheduled to air at the same time as “The Greatest American Hero”. Conflict ensued, with Lee (the little brat) gaining via our mom T.V. rights. Actually, as it turned out ABC was the ’81 home of both the World Series and “Greatest American Hero” and, of course, the WS preempted regular programming and I got to watch the game. But it was then that I realized it was high time for my younger brother to become a Dodgers fan, and the following year I took him to a few games. By the end of ’82 Lee had become a big enough Dodger fan that he … well I don’t want to embarrass him … let’s suffice it to say he was very upset when Steve Garvey signed with the Padres.
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P.S. Steve Garvey remains Lee’s all-time favorite Dodger.

Studying is going good. Just gotta keep at it.
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Thanks for representing Loney!
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I am not completely up to date on all your son’s baseball exploits, but it sounds like he’s doing well so Congrats! to him.
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I haven’t been able to read every post/thread, but I see the creativity continues to abound and the frustration continues to mount.
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Thanks to dodgereric for collecting all the songs!
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I am not completely up to date on all your son’s baseball exploits, but it sounds like he’s doing well so Congrats! to him.
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Did cpompe come up with a song yet?

My brother met Steve Garvey when his son played on a 8 and under travel team with my nephew. This was in Palm Springs a couple of years ago,and my brother was the coach ( very intimidating, but cool at the same time). I never got to meet him, but my brother said he was a very nice guy. He thinks he took his son to a travel team in the LA area.

mlk – here’s cpompe’s song:
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Okay, here is my song-writing debut… Promise me, you won’t laugh!!! Well, you can laugh with me, just don’t laugh at me. Thx for the inspiration from all other songwriters on this blog. Sung to that lovable novelty Christmas song, Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer. Maybe sung better if Ned is the one singing this song.

Juan Pierre got run over by a reindeer
Walking home from my house Christmas Eve.
You can say there’s no such thing as Santa
But as for me an’ Torre, we believe.

Juan was drinking too much eggnog
All night we laughed and caroused around
But he forgot he has no arm strength
As he tried to pull a weed from the ground

When we found him Christmas morning
We only saw his little head
That was sticking up from the snow
With deer droppings all around him like a bed

Juan Pierre got run over by a reindeer
Walking home from my house Christmas Eve.
You can say there’s no such thing as Santa,
But as for me an’ Torre, we believe.

Now we’re all so proud of Torre
He’s been taking this so well
Mumbling, “PVLs, who’d of thought?”
Playing young kids like he’s under a spell

It’s not Christmas without Slappy
All the family’s dressed in blue
And with his unmatched 5” hat size
Who do we give his extra hats to?

Juan Pierre got run over by a reindeer
Walking home from my house Christmas Eve.
You can say there’s no such thing as Santa,
But as for me an’ Torre, we believe

Oh, and a note: I didn’t know but I was just guessing on JP’s hat size!!!

This will really mess up eric by reposting songs – sorry! Once he gets all the songs entered, we will be able to find all of them in one location – totally awesome if you haven’t seen it yet. link is below ~
.http://dodgereric.mlblogs.com/

Thank you 🙂 I am still wondering how “Blogging Party” got posted 3 times. LOL!!!
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I think you should add scott’s top ten even though it’s not a song – too funny and I can see us wanting to see that again. 🙂

She throws all wro-o-ong
With many a hopping too
And lobs in the air to where?
Here and there.
But she’s strong
Strong enough to call on Ned
Its for you Ned, it’s Juan’s mama
.
So on she goes
Juan’s play time is her concern
Though burdening the team, who cares
JoJo’s there
.
Though he blows
Mom taught him everything he knows
Phones for you Ned, It’s Juan’s mama
.
If we’re losin’ at all
We’ll start blamin’ the kids
Cause everybody knows
Her little Juanpy’s a good boy
And hard, oh he’s a hard worker
.
It’s a long long wait
From 6:00 until game time comes
Why Juan will be there, I swear
No one cares
.
Though we frown,
‘cuz his OBP is down
It’s for you Ned, it’s Juan’s mama
.
It’s Juan’s mama
It’s for Neddy, It’s Juans mama

enchanted – everytime you said “E” is angry, pissed, etc. etc. etc, I kept thinking of this song, and how I wouldn’t want to mess with you either. So, this song is done for you because you did start this whole craziness. You are admired dearly by this Dodger fan as I know many others are as well, and most of us will gladly join you in the deep end. Thank you jhall and eric for latching on to this creative genious, known as enchantedsunset and starting, what I would have to call, a blogging phenomenon. Just look at eric’s website/blog – INCREDIBLE!!!
.
Song: “Don’t Mess Around With “E”
Original song: “Don’t Mess Around with Jim”
by Jim Croce
.
Neddy’s got his hustlers
JoJo’s got his bums
And ITD bloggers got our big “E” enchantedsunset
He’s a straight shootin’ son of a gun
Ya’ he’s ingenious as any man can be
And smarter than our Dodger’s boss
And when we bloggin’ folks
All get together at night
You know we all call big “E” boss
Just because
And we say
.
You don’t shrug off our young guns game
You don’t swing at first pitch
You don’t pull this crap on ITDodgers
And you don’t mess around with “E”, da do, da do
.
Well out of Torreville comes a country boy
He said “I’m looking for a man named “E”.
I’m a Dodger player, my name is Juan Pierre
But down hom they call me Juanpy
And I’m looking for the boss of ITD bloggers
He’s making fun of what I lack
Last week he, jhall,eric and nelly wrote songs not so funny
But I’ve come to get Flat Stanley back” and
Everybody said, Juan don’t you know..
.
You don’t shrug off our young guns game
You don’t swing at first pitch
You don’t pull this crap on ITDodgers
And you don’t mess around with “E”, da do, da do
.
You don’t shrug off our young guns game
You don’t swing at first pitch
You don’t pull this crap on ITDodgers
And you don’t mess around with “E”, da do, da do

Another great one enchanted!
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OK, here’s another one, with all due apologies for desecrating John Lennon’s (yeah, yeah, yeah, Lennon/McCartney, but this one was clearly all John) “Glass Onion”:
.
“Young Talent”
.
I told you about Chavez Ravine;
It is the place the lineup’s obscene.
Well, there’s another place you can go;
here, the PVLs blow.
Looking through the AL standings
To see how Tampa Bay wins;
Playing all the young talent.
.
I told you about the walrus and Torre.
Ned’s free agents are making him sorry.
I told you about Chavez Ravine;
It is the place the lineup’s obscene.
Well, there’s another place you can go;
The PVLs blow.
Looking through the AL standings
To see how Tampa Bay wins;
Playing all the young talent.
.
I told you about the walrus and Torre.
Ned’s free agents are making him sorry.
Well, here’s another clue for you, Holmes,
The walrus was Jones.
Vets stay on the disabled list.
ITD commenters shaking their fists,
“Please play all the young talent.
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah.
Please play all the young talent.”
.
I told you about the fool on the hill,
I tell you man he’s GMing still.
Well there’s another place he can be,
Listen to me.
Fixing a hole in his depth chart,
Trying to get a PVL back,
Working back in San ‘Frisco..***
Vets stay on the disabled lists.
ITD commenters shaking their fists,
“Please play all the young talent.
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah.
Please play all the young talent.”
.
I told you about the fool on the hill,
I tell you, man, he’s GMing still.
Well there’s another place he can be,
Listen to me.
Fixing a hole in his depth chart,
Trying to get a PVL back,
Working back in San ‘Frisco.
.
*** or:
Well, here’s another clue for all you,
The walrus was ‘Druw.

Nice one Miss Debbie! Somehow, I got your copy-and-paste disease! Here’s how that song of mine is supposed to look:
.
“Young Talent”
.
I told you about Chavez Ravine;
It is the place the lineup’s obscene.
Well, there’s another place you can go;
Here, the PVLs blow.
Looking through the AL standings
To see how Tampa Bay wins;
Playing all the young talent.
.
I told you about the walrus and Torre.
Ned’s free agents are making him sorry.
Well, here’s another clue for you, Holmes,
The walrus was Jones.+++
Vets stay on the disabled list.
ITD commenters shaking their fists,
“Please play all the young talent.
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah.
Please play all the young talent.”
.
I told you about the fool on the hill,
I tell you man he’s GMing still.
Well there’s another place he can be,
Listen to me.
Fixing a hole in his depth chart,
Trying to get a PVL back,
Working back in San ‘Frisco.
.
+++ or:
Well, here’s another clue for all you,
The walrus was ‘Druw.

westernmost – it’s amazing how some songs just write themselves – don’t even have to change the lyrics too much
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Thanks jhall – it is just too much fun!! This is like a summer writing course but a whole hell of a lot more fun. I take a lot of writing workshops because it’s the hardest subject for me to teach, but I have a feeling next year will be much different just based perspective and experience in working with lyrics and professional things such as letters, comments, experiences, etc. Then again – it’s just plain fun!!!

Old news (from Sunday) but this still boggles my mind:
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“Injured 3B Nomar Garciaparra, who was told by his physical therapist in Boston last week to wait 10 days before doing anything, has decided to speed things up. Garciaparra swung in the cage on Sunday and will resume baseball activities on Tuesday or Wednesday, about five days ahead of schedule. “He decided,” Manager Joe Torre said. “That was his decision. The whole thing was his call.” ”
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Why the heck does Nomar fly all the way to Boston to consult with his hand-picked PT only to NOT take the advice? I predict another setback Friday during an infield drill.

Another day of funny songs and more time away from what I should be doing. You guys (and gals) crack me up.

Garvey is one my all time favorite Dodgers and my son’s too. We try not to think much about his off the field behavior and I have had the opportunity to meet him at Dodger Fantasy Camp some years ago. I asked him how a batter could look so bad on one pitch and then cream the ball on the next pitch and he said sometimes you just get fooled. I did not find him to be the most personable guy there and his hair does not move. However, he was a great player for the Dodgers and I share your pain at seeing him in that awful Padre uniform.

Is there anyway we could get a campaign to get Logan White for GM?…I cannot bear watching these Dodgers anymore..It’s really painful….and I see that Coletti STILL doesn’t get it after reading T J’s article…just maddening…
Year after year of mediocre or sub mediocre teams…this is just not good enough…and the reason he deserves this blame is because he NEVER signs the right players…..Coletti is a joke when he says it wasn’t all on him…EVERYTHING IS ON HIM..HE’S THE GM..!!!…..and his stay in Dodgerland has been a disgrace….I never thought it could get worse than what we had before him, but he is by far the worst thing to happen to the Dodgers…

What Dodger fans can do .(1) write letters to Frank telling him to fire Ned .(2)Write letters to Ned telling him to resign for the good of the franchise. (3) Write letters to Joe telling him to shut up about how the vets get it and the kids don’t, provide him with stats. (4) Don’t waste our hard earned money to go to the stadium and watch management ruin this once proud franchise. Simers is right , there’s nothing scarier than Ned being behind closed doors plotting the Dodgers future!

Yeah, Ned’s strictly a CYA kinda guy. I didn’t do it, he did. I’m not gonna block the way of White or Ng getting a GM job. Not, “White and Ng are key assets to our organization and it sure would be a shame to lose them.” Translation: Come and get ’em ’cause it saves my ***.

Ned behind closed doors also means Torre’s telling him, “with a FEW key veterans Ned, we can win the west. I think we can afford to trade Ethier, Kemp, and LaRoche – they just don’t get it.”

Apparently the honeymoon is over between Ned Colletti and the mainstream L.A. press. T. J. Simers (who I cannot stand) has gone from advocating trading the likes of Loney and Kemp at last year’s deadline for Teixeira, to questioning openly the talent evaluation skills of the GM, and paints Ned as badly as he can in today’s column.
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It wasn’t too challenging for T. J., because Ned really fed him some quotes that he probably should never have said, the worst example being the disavowing of responsibilty for some the trades made, ” “Some of those are minor league deals and I had nothing to do with them,” Colletti protests when I mention his trading track record, and while I find it odd the Dodgers’ GM doesn’t have final approval of all deals, he adds, “The player development people made five or six of those.” ” Colletti is an executive, the General Manager, and the head of Baseball Operations. “The player development people are HIS people, and as GM he shouldn’t be claiming he has “nothing to do with [their transactions]”.http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/team/front_office.jsp?c_id=la
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Then Colletti goes further and comments on on-field play, specifically batting approaches. He is clearly NOT the expert in this field and should leave this commentary to the manager and coaching staff.
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Bottom line: Simers went fishing, Colletti took the bait, and Simers reeled in an article that will likely get play as it circulates.

Required reading from Jon Weisman’s column today… but this is from response #144… Eric Enders… who basically puts this into CLARITY BEYOND BELIEF.

Management (Colletti, Torre, et. al)… are you PAYING ATTENTION???

Class is in session:

“144. Eric Enders
The following is long and rambling and may not have much of a point.

One thing about the Simers column is that it aptly illustrates the two main problems with the Colletti-era Dodgers.

1. They refuse to acknowledge — and often refuse to repair — even the most obvious mistakes.

“You’re looking in hindsight, so your vision is perfect,” says Colletti, who apparently works with blinders on, the only logical explanation for some of these deals. “Who has come back to haunt us?”

A better question, I said, “is who did you acquire who really improved the team?”

“Ethier helped us,” he says. “Maddux helped us, Lugo gave us some support, Anderson certainly helped us in September of ’06, and Hendrickson pitched. You do have to have players who pitch and play in the games.”
– – – – –

First of all, when you’re asked what good deals you’ve made and the third one that comes to mind is Julio Lugo, that’s bad. What’s worse is that Colletti insists that the trade helped the team. This is a guy who was allowed to bat 164 times and posted a 41 OPS+. This is a guy whose acquisition was an unmitigated disaster.

This is a guy who was almost completely redundant in terms of the Dodgers’ needs: He started two games at his natural position of shortstop, 13 at his secondary position of second base, and every other game he played was at a position where he was in over his head offense-wise (3B, LF, RF).

Even allowing for the fact that Colletti was being harassed by a buffoon of a columnist, the fact that he could make such a quote is pretty damning of his qualifications to be a general manager. It indicates that either (1) He is clueless beyond the pale where player evaluation is concerned, or (2) He resolutely refuses to acknowledge even the most egregious and obvious mistakes.

You could say that he’s trying to avoid becoming a Ricciardi, trying to avoid running down a player in public. But he’s the one who brought up the subject of Lugo. He could have simply said nothing. He has no reason to want to placate Lugo. This is not a player who’s under contract to the Dodgers, or who conceivably could be in the future. This is a guy who is in the process of playing his way out of the majors, and whose defining moment in the major leagues was the time he smashed his wife’s head into the hood of her car. The point is, there’s no reason for Colletti to avoid the truth just to spare Lugo’s feelings.

One could reasonably argue that the Lugo trade benefited the Dodgers not because of Lugo himself, but because of the draft picks they reaped when he departed. I myself would make this argument, actually. But Colletti specifically avoids this interpretation, and given the indifference he’s shown toward the draft with both the Dodgers and Giants, it’s not plausible that Withrow and Adkins were the reasons he made the trade, or the reasons he thinks it’s successful.

On to the next problem raised by the Simers column….

2. The Dodgers’ player evaluation is so incompetent that they have shown a near-complete inability to distinguish the players who help them win from those who don’t.

If you give the Dodgers a choice between two baseball players, a good one and a bad one, there’s at least a 50/50 chance they’ll pick the bad one.

Moreover, the things management says publicly are often provably false, even comically false. The main failing of the Dodgers’ beat writers, who I think generally do a good job, is their complete refusal to question the hokum the Dodgers spew forth. Even when the Dodgers say something about player performance that’s provably false, the writers will unquestioningly regurgitate it as fact. Perhaps this is because they are in awe of Torre, or afraid of incurring his wrath. But then again, it was the same way under Grady Little.

“Torre says he likes the approach Juan Pierre and Jeff Kent take, and Russell Martin does well at times, but the rest of the Dodgers’ lineup is too impatient and swings at too many bad pitches.”

Perhaps Torre is engaging in motivational psychology here that’s specifically directed toward Matt Kemp, in which case you can ignore the following. But if we take the statement at face value, it’s hard to believe a person who’s been around baseball for 50 years could actually believe it’s true. Perhaps it’s simply a case of being too close to the situation — not being able to see the forest for the trees.

Here are the players on the current roster, ranked by pitches per plate appearance (50 or more ABs):

So the five most disciplined hitters on the team are young players. Moreover, the guys whose approach Torre goes out of his way to praise are two of the worst three hitters on the team in terms of plate discipline. Torre’s comment, with all due respect to his experience, is completely, laughably false. It shows either (a) a complete disregard for whether the things he says are actually true, or (b) a fundamental inability to analyze the game of baseball. Neither option reflects well on him.

This inability to accurately evaluate players is the main thing that’s plagued the Dodgers under Torre. I’m not saying this would be a great team if Torre had deployed his players in a manner that made sense. But it would be somewhat better, and I think it’s reasonable of fans to expect the team to field the best lineup at its disposal.

Instead, Torre seems to have picked his favorites and not wavered from those favorites, even when the player is a washed-up relic hitting .100.

We’re less than halfway through the season, but Torre and Colletti have already, at various points during the year, made the following misallocations of playing time:

Sweeney over Young
Proctor over Kuo
Proctor over Wade
Loaiza over Kuo
Pierre over Kemp
Pierre over Ethier
Pierre over Young
Bennett over LaRoche
Maza over Hu
Maza over Young/DeWitt
Tiffee over LaRoche
Garciaparra over LaRoche
Garciaparra over DeWitt

While I think T.J. Simers can be a great writer, I have a problem with a guy who admits his sole purpose in what he does is to get a rise out of the subject of his columns. He can be funny but his sarcasm and downright meaness is sometimes just too much. However, he is not afraid to ask tough questions and doesn’t care what anyone thinks about him or what he writes. I agree that Ned did not handle this interview well at all and should seek Jeff Kents’s advice on how to handle T.J.

enchanted – Ned gets the credit/blame for Jeff Kent being here NOW. DePodesta signed Kent originally, but it was Ned who gave him the contract for ’07 with the vesting player’s option for ’08. Colletti did have the choice to let Kent walk (but Kent swung at the first pitch instead!?).

It’s true hindsight is 100%, but what foresight has Ned shown that has actually improved this team? Okay maybe getting Furcal improved the team at that moment, but what since then? It is completely true everything that Ned has done has made this team worse, and it won’t get any better until Ned and some of his fabulous acquisitions are gone. Are you listening Frank?

Also from the P-E: “To make room for Falkenborg on the 40-man roster, catcher Gary Bennett (plantar fasciitis) has been transferred to the 60-day disabled list.”
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Also good news, this pushes back a Bennett decision until (about) July 20, at the earliest since he went on the DL 5/20. Danny Ardoin may or may not be able to hit, but my eye says decent defensive catcher, and, bonus, he can make a normal throw back to the pitcher.

I don’t think Proctor really admitted he stinks. Instead of taking his promotion he probably bitched and complained to Ned and Joe and they put him on the DL with an “elbow injury” to pad his ego a little.

It’s probably worth listening to Jaime Jarrin even if you don’t speak Spanish–it reminds me of a George Carlin routine, who of course just passed away, and he mentioned listening to the games in Spanish, because in baseball, all you needed to know was how to count to three (uno, dos, tres), and you could listen to the broadcaster’s excitment and understand what was going on.

If completely useless is a reason for a player to be on DL, then there’s hope for JP afterall – LOL!!! yeh right! Who am I kidding? The man just isn’t going away – FOR 3 MORE YEARS!!! Who would have thought that it would take an enormous piano, reindeer, etc to take out such a little man. LOL!!! I can’t help but laugh about it now ( LOL!!!) because that’s how ridiculous this whole situation is. We shouldn’t have to be hoping for pianos and reindeers – JUST PLAY THE BEST – THE KIDS!!!!

It’s almost July, why is Ned still GM? He’d be happier than a pig in s*!t if Ng or White left to Seattle… then we’d have no choice as loyal Dodger fans but to abide by his longing to have all the successful components of the 1997 All-Star team.

“WOW!!! Mike Mussina!!! That guy works wonders for the Orioles! And all I have to do is give up Looney, Del Witt and… what’s his name?… Peyton Kershaw? WHERE DO I SIGN?!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

More about batting and “patience”. I think patience means not swinging at pitcher’s pitches (balls, corner strikes) and swinging at hitter’s pitches (fat strikes – fastball down the middle, hanging breaking balls). So among the regulars, who swings at the most balls? Only 20% of Martin’s swing are at balls. Not surprising that Kemp is at 1/3; he is raw and fooled a lot. But check out where the veterans stand. It always looked to me that JP made a lot of weak contact on bad pitches to hit; here’s some evidence.
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Stolen from the Dodger Thoughts comments:
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21. StolenMonkey86 2008-06-25 16:34:26
To be fair, “Swinging at Bad Pitches” may be better measured by out-of-zone swing percentage than with P/PA.
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O-Swing% from Fangraphs, 2008
Martin: 20.26%
Furcal: 23.78%
Loney: 25.87%
Ethier: 26.28%
Kent: 27.74%
DeWitt: 27.87%
Pierre: 29.19%
Kemp: 33.65%

Good Morning Dodger Blue Fans!!
It’s always nice to wake up in the morning and know your beloved Dodgers won last night. Eric Stults was incredible last night(he’s a keeper Joe), and thank you to all the players that contributed to his run support and a shut out ~ (Pierre,Ethier,Martin,Loney,Kemp,DeWitt and Stults, himself). This song very much wrote itself after all the talk about kids vs. vets yesterday, and the treatment that our young players are receiving due to ridiculous claims from all facets of this management team. .
Song: “Head Games”
Original Song: “Head Games”
by Foreigner
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Game day, alright
Fans won’t know,
They won’t know if it’s real
Been a long night and
Something ain’t right
Joe don’t know,
He don’t know how we feel
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No line-up ever seems right
Won’t talk about the reasons
Why you don’t play ‘Dre everynight
It’s high time to draw the line
Put an end to this game
Before it’s too late
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Head games, it’s you and the vets
Head games, we can’t take it anymore
Head games, we don’t wanna play the…
Head games
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We daydream for hours it seems
We keep thinking of youth, thinking of youth
These daydreams, what do they mean
They keep haunting us, are the warning us
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Daylight turns into night
We try to find the answer
But it’s nowhere in sight
It’s always the same and
You know who’s to blame
You know what we’re sayin,
Still you keep on playin’
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Head games, that’s all we get from you
Head games, we can’t take it anymore
Head games, we don’t wanna play the…
Head games
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So near, so far away
We try to figure the cause
We don’t know what to say
It’s so clear, We’re sorry to say
But if you wanna win
You gotta learn and stop playin’
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Head games, it’s you and the vets
Head games, we can’t take it anymore
Head games, we don’t wanna play the…
Head games
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Head games, that’s all we get from you
Head games, we can’t take it anymore
Head games, we don’t wanna play the…
Head games
.
Head games, it’s you and the vets
Head games, we can’t take it anymore
Head games, we don’t wanna play the…
Head games

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